WILLIAM PARKER

EAST PRAIRIE, Mo. -- William Paul Parker, 79, of East Prairie died Sunday, Feb. 25, 2001, at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston, Mo.

He was born Sept. 29, 1921, in the Barnes Ridge community near East Prairie, son of William M. and Mattie Noble England Parker Sr. He and Linda Elizabeth Sligar were married Oct. 23, 1942, at Charleston.

Parker lived in Mississippi County most of his life and was a retired civil engineer. He was a member of First Church of God.

He served in the U.S. Army Combat Engineers Corps during World War II. He received a Purple Heart in the China-India-Burma Campaign and was awarded three Battle Stars, an Oak Leaf Cluster and the Unit Presidential Citation.

Survivors include his wife; three daughters, Paula Southern of Midwest City, Okla., LaDonna Sullivan of Norman, Okla., Mary Allen of Bloomfield; a sister, Queen Henry of East Prairie, Mo.; six grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by four brothers and three sisters.

Friends may call at Shelby Funeral Home in East Prairie after 6 p.m. today.

Funeral will be at 11 a.m. Wednesday at First Church of God. Johnnie Sligar will officiate. Burial will be in Dogwood Cemetery.